


Neon Gravestones Call For My Bones

by Crab_Lad



Series: Crab's need for clone wars content [19]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Burials, Canonical Character Death, Farewells, Gen, Hurt, Season 7 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23995150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crab_Lad/pseuds/Crab_Lad
Summary: READ THE TAGSTitle from Neon Gravestones by twenty one pilots
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano
Series: Crab's need for clone wars content [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1662106
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	Neon Gravestones Call For My Bones

**Author's Note:**

> so uh yeah im not sorry for this

It was the familiar marking of the Republic Cog that caught his eye, pulling him to the prone, broken body strewn along the wreckage. It was worse when he could still hear those gasping, struggling breaths, rasping out of the Arc Troopers chest. It's enough that it rattled Rex, seeing the tattoo he had placed as _Jesse_ cracked and bloodied. It hurt to see the leg bent the wrong way and the blood trickling from Jesse's mouth. 

Rex crumbled to the ground, pulling his _vod'ika_ into his lap, his arms, not wanting him to die alone. He was the last member of Torrent. Those brown eyes shone with pain, terror, confusion. But, clarity. Not the cold dead stare he had seen in the other chip controlled clones. The Captain can't hold back his sob, heavy tears spilling. 

"R...ex..." Jesse coughed out, hand gripping weakly at Rex's arm. " _Vod_..." 

"Shh," Rex soothed, threading his hand with Jesse's. " _It's okay, vod'ika,_ " he whispered in Mando'a. "It's okay." 

Jesse's eyes dimmed and his hand lost it's grasp as the trooper took his final breath, staring up at the sky with hope. The eyes stared blankly, unseeing as Rex carefully lifted him up. Seeing through a curtain of tears proved difficult, but he wouldn't stop, wouldn't let Jesse be forgotten on some backworld planet. None of his brothers would.

It was slow, tedious work. He was just one man, and Ahsoka was still a kid. Yet, there were so many of them, and so many more they hadn't managed to drag out of the ship. The few that they had found, but hadn't taken out, had almost made him puke. They were mutilated beyond recognition, either from the crash or Maul. A small part hated Ahsoka for releasing that monster onto them, for letting him prowl through the halls to dismember his brothers. 

He was the only one left. Commander, Captain, _vod_. 

Why hadn't he listened more to Fives? Why hadn't he followed his gut and taken the chip out, why hadn't he gotten them out of the rest? Everything that had happened, the order, the brothers dead, now buried in the ground, had happened because of him. Because he hadn't listened to Fives. Because he hadn't trusted Fives. Rex had failed them all.

It seemed fate was cruel enough to leave him as the last one alive. Hardcase. Fives. Tup. Kix. Jesse. Dogma. Echo. He wasn't sure what had happened with Echo, but he was almost afraid to find out. It was easier not knowing, not thinking that his _vod'ika_ hadn't had to experience the pure horror of getting your body ripped from you, of having your mind taken and replaced by nothing more than a meatdroid. 

Jesse had called him CT-7567 on comms, he had barely heard it while they were running, but he had heard it regardless.

When they finished, he couldn't stand being in front of them anymore, knowing their last moments had been stolen from them. So he excused himself, heading back toward their ship. With a sad, somber walk, he lifted the shovel back into the ship, turning to see Ahsoka still in front. She needed a moment, he knew, yet he still watched as she let her lightsaber tumble to the ground before looking up. Another moment, and she turned back, striding towards Rex. He couldn't move, couldn't climb in. Ahsoka didn't seem in a rush, as she stopped beside him, and slid her hand in his empty one. It startled him, and he squeezed back, turning to press shoulder to shoulder with her. 

"What is it, your brother's say, to mourn the dead?"

" _Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaajla_ ," He recited, tone flat and unfeeling. "Not gone, merely marching far away." 

"It's a nice sentiment," she mused, an empty smile quirking up. "But I meant, to say your remembrances. I'm... sorry to say what little graps of Mando'a I had slipped away while i was gone."

Rex glanced over, seeing the pure determination in her eyes. He knew she knew every single one of them by name, had asked for them, committed them to memory before the battle. It... did seem fitting that they would end this burial by saying the Remembrance. 

" _Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayil, gar darasuum._ " 

She tried to copy him, to his surprise. Her pronunciation was messy, sloppy, even if she tried it serveral times before he stepped in to help her. The effort warmed his heart, knowing that in the end Ahsoka really cared. 

" _Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayil, gar darasuum,_ " the repeat in sync, standing closer to each other, looking for support. "Jesse. Vaughn. Sterling. Ridge. Fish. Mud. Key. Socket. Ace. Foxtrot." 

Her voice filtered in along his, two sides of the same coin, desperate to not let their _vode_ 's death be in vain. The man had been brave, valliant, and fought so hard till the end. And, ultimately, had been stolen from them through the Sith, through the same Republic they had been made to fight for. It filled him with righteous anger, hurting over the betrayal. 

"Lock. Gem. Tanner. Zaps. Sparks. Jinx. Irin. Linn. Tinker. Ops. Arel. Gill. Berr. Riser. Singer. Connor. Chase. Red. CT-3325. CT-4432. Ka'ra. Blanket. Apollo. Archer. Hazel. Bagger. Rain. Cardinal. Missle. Short-Out. Chatter. Water. Jolene, Dio, Galad, Thiala, Yellow, Salamander, Bo, Planter, Jazz, Roni, Mezz, Gedney, Barill, Fossey, Reitz, '42. Baby. Heather. Corn."

The list continued on, until their voices grew harsh from speaking. Ahsoka powered on, even if Rex couldn't, until she had named every last one of them. Then, she kneeled, and whispered, "I'm sorry, _vode_."

It took everything in him to pull away and climb back into the ship. 

**Author's Note:**

> crablad and clonebabes are my tumblrs


End file.
